Check Out Your Local Careers Centre

Whether you’re still in college or you’ve already left, there is a tonne of career-based centres that can help you to find your first job. If you go for the first time, you’ll have the opportunity to speak to a career advisor who will talk you through what qualifications and experience you have to help you find a job that’s suitable for you.

This is also a great way to find what jobs are currently available, especially if you’re not really sure what career path you want to take.

Networking Is Your Best Friend

During your time in college, you will have met a lot of people, either as friends, professionals or even people in your desired industry. Networking with these people is such an important aspect to consider if you want to find the job of your dreams.

During your course, you may have been involved in some kind of work experience program. If you excelled in this position, the chances are that the company will be willing to take you on full time, all you have to do is ask.

Ensure Your Resume is Precise

It’s highly advised that you create an individual resume for each job you apply for. You can easily achieve this by simply editing your existing resume, but you’ll need to tailor each resume you send for the vacancy that you’re applying for.

For example, working in a law firm as a receptionist and working in a café waiting tables are both very different jobs but the way you word your experience, skills and achievements mean you could very easily apply for both.

Find a Job You Would Enjoy

It may very easy to simply go out and apply for the first job you see. However, you’re much more likely to find a job and stick with it, if you find something you enjoy. Carry out research into potential jobs that you’ll think you’ll enjoy, research the company and give it your best shot. Even during the interview process, your enthusiasm and passion for the role will naturally show if it’s somewhere you’re excited to work.

Dedicate but Maintain Balance

For those that are more determined, it may be easier to get drawn into continuously research companies, stressing over our resumes to ensure that they’re perfect and spending all our time trying to find that perfect job. However, for our mental health, sanity and productivity, it’s vital that you get outside, enjoy the fresh air, spend time with your friends and family and, overall, enjoy your life.

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Learn How to Blog

Blogs are huge. There’s millions of them and most businesses will have one. No matter what subject you’re learning at university and no matter what career path you’re planning to take, learning to blog and educating yourself in how blogs work will be a game-changer when it comes to adult life, especially in this digital age in which we live.

What’s more, some professional bloggers earn more than $1m a year through advertising alone on their blog. That’s big money that shouldn’t be sniffed at.

Learn a Hobby

Once you’ve left university, you’ll soon find you have very little time to yourself. ‘But I already have very little time to myself!’ I hear you say. That’s true, especially with every present deadlines and coursework to complete, however, it’s vital that you learn how to set aside time to pursue a hobby you enjoy.

Whether you love writing, photography, drawing, cross-stitching, running or anything you think you may love, dedicating time aside to doing something you love will keep you happy (and sane!) now and in adult life.

Learn About Your Opportunities

Just because you’re getting a degree, let’s say the law, it doesn’t mean you necessarily have to pursue a law career. For most businesses, degrees are interchangeable and the fact that you’ve proven how you can successfully dedicate your time to learning and completing a degree is good enough for a business to hire you.

Taking law as an example, you don’t have to become a lawyer, you could become a business consultant or an advisor. Take the time to learn which opportunities will be available to you in the future.

Learn to Network

The people you are surrounded by now will be the leaders, the CEO’s, the masterminds and the intellects behind some of the biggest businesses and enterprises in the world someday in the future. Yeah, that’s hard to believe, right?

Networking is such an important part of life and it’s important that you master this professional skill because you never know who you might meet and how it might pay off in the future, both professionally and socially.

Learn to Master the Skill of Writing

You may be sick and tired of writing assignments, essays and other documents throughout your university life but writing is a skill that will never leave you. No matter what your career ends up being, you’ll be writing emails, invoices, copy, content, prescriptions, reports, letters, sales presentations, speeches and so much more, the list is endless. Master writing now and you’ll never have to worry about putting pen to paper in the future.

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1.    Make a Detailed Outline

You need to take time when writing a cause and effect essay to make a detailed list of the causes and effect, or the cause and the effects. You’ll then divide your paper to discuss each cause or effect in turn. It’s important to make sure you know exactly what you’ll be covering in your paper at this stage, otherwise your paper can become cluttered and jumbled. This is the only way to achieve a grade A structure.

2.    Write Your Introduction

An introduction is a fundamental part of any successful paper, however, it is unfortunately overlooked by many students who are too eager to dive into the topic. Your introduction should address the cause and effects, or causes and effects you have identified, and how you will describe them in the main body of the paper. An introduction doesn’t need to be too long or detailed, however neglecting to write one at all can cost you a lot of marks. This is true in all essays, not just cause and effect papers. You can then follow the structure you’ve set for yourself in your introduction, and make sure that your essay stays organised.

3.    The Main Body

Your main body should include several paragraphs. If you’re writing about one cause with multiple effects then define the cause, and devote a paragraph to each effect. If you’re writing about one effect with multiple causes, then define the effect, and spend a paragraph analysing each cause. While it may sound pretty elementary to divide your points into paragraphs, you would be surprised how many students forget to do so, and as a result, their work looks messy and unorganised. Addressing each point in this way also gives you the space you need to say everything you want about each point, and you can avoid getting to the end of the essay and realizing you have neglected to include important points.

4.    Conclusion

While you may have made a concrete assessment of the causes and effects of your issue and could have provided an awesome analysis of each factor involved, your essay is doomed to fail without a good conclusion. You need to succinctly inform your reader of everything you’ve told them. There should be no new information here, but you may include a personal opinion or a reason of why you chose to analyse one point instead of another.

Cause and effect essays are super simple to tackle so long as you stick to the tried and tested structure defined above.

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One thing that these two methods of education have in common is lower prices, however, apart from that, they are pretty different. So, once you’ve established your budget, you may want to consider the following factors before picking a course:

Flexibility

Both eLearning and distance learning are fairly flexible, however, with distance learning, you are often sent the materials for a class and are expected to complete it and send it back to the tutor within a specific time frame, as the course runs along a syllabus. With eLearning, you can log on and do what you can, when you can, meaning you can occasionally skip a week, or do more work than usual if you have free time.

Structure

If you know you procrastinate and put things off, then you may prefer distance learning, as the materials have a deadline and the class follows a timetable. ELearning gives you a lot more freedom, which for some is appealing, but others may admit that having that freedom may lead to them never quite completing the online course. You know yourself whether you need reminders on when to finish work or whether you’re self-motivated enough to complete a course without external pressure, so this does come down to personal preference.

Accreditation

A lot of respected universities and institutions offer distance learning classes, that can lead to a real diploma and a useful qualification. Alternatively, just about anyone can set up an online course, and your qualification at the end may not be really useful. It’s important to check that the providers of either kind of course are properly accredited and authorised to certify you in relevant areas. This is an area that requires some research, as you should double check the legitimacy of any course before you pay to do it.

Support

When you are learning online, you may not have a specific tutor to help you out with work and will do all of your communication online. Distance learning may provide a little less support, or you may have to wait longer to get feedback or responses to queries.

The Environment

Distance learning often involves sending reams of paper in the post – which is not great for the environment. Working online is much greener, but this aspect may not be important to everyone.

It’s commendable to be looking to improve your education, and either distance or eLearning can be valid options for self-improvement.

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If the old adage ‘practice makes perfect’ has any truth at all, then digital writing has done more for education than any old teaching methods over the last hundred years. For one thing, it’s important to define digital writing. It’s commonly accepted to mean just about any kind of writing that takes place online or on a computer – including texting, blog writing, emails, or status updates. While the quality of this kind of text is occasionally questioned, the overriding fact is that students and teenagers are writing more than ever before. They do the bulk of their writing outside of school, which was unheard of just a few decades ago. If this is how students communicate, and how they write in the real world, then including it in their education is a pretty necessary step to make sure you are providing relevant and engaging classes. The following points show exactly why digital writing matters in education.

1.    Encourage Peer Review

As most digital writing is aimed at a student’s peers, the door to peer review is wider open than ever before. Via technology such as Google drive that has opened up access to different work within the classroom, it is easier and more relevant than ever to ask students to write a piece online, and then ask another student to edit, review, or add to it. This collaborative environment boosts engagement and will make your student work harder as they are more conscious of who will see their work. Plus, writing on a laptop is much more natural than writing by hand for them, so you will likely see better work as a result too.

2.    Add Meaning to Their Work

Digital writing is rarely done for the sake of it – which is how school work can sometimes feel. Students pour their emotions into blogs or really communicate via social media. Others explore their interests or indulge in their passions via sharing sites and pages with anonymous writing, while others share fanfictions or gaming hacks to communities they feel a sense of belonging with. They all write with a purpose, which is what is often missing in a classroom environment, and should be implemented to improve the overall written communication of students in school.

3.    Make Monitoring Easier

Putting writing tasks online makes grading and assessing students levels a lot easier, and you will be more informed about how to help them. Plus, you can opt to teach via different audio or visual methods when you go online, which means you can appeal to all kinds of learners and make sure you’re getting your message across.

You can’t fight progress, and the best teachers will realise early that digital writing will play a big part in their students’ future, and incorporate it into class.

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1.    Give Them Responsibility

A lot of students sit back and relax as they believe their education and success is solely the responsibility of their teacher. They don’t need to engage or work, as they can simply blame their teacher when they don’t do well. You can combat this attitude by sitting down with them one on one and going over their data from standardised tests. You can go into much more detail than simply a grade and instead point out the specific areas that they need to work on. This means that they know what areas they need to work on to improve, rather than feeling overwhelmed with the need to focus on absolutely everything.

2.    Create a Collaborative Learning Environment

When students have to work together or with you, they can’t switch off. Making their tasks linked to other tasks and the success of the class as a whole puts a little pressure on them in the sense that they don’t want to be the weak link in the chain, and will stay switched on. They’ll also need to work together, which can help them achieve as they’ll be sharing knowledge and be free from distractions.

3.    Make Your Classes Relevant

A lot of students instantly lose interest and stop listening to certain classes that they feel will never be of any use to them in real life. This is easy to combat by modifying your classes to make each lesson meaningful and highlight how your lesson impacts their real life or their future. Drawing on personal experiences can also provide a solid link to the class, make your lessons easier to recall when writing papers or studying for exams, and hold their attention.

4.    Improve Pastoral Relationships

Despite social media growth meaning that we’re in almost constant communication with each other, many students feel isolated and alone. Taking an interest in their emotional and psychological well-being can make them feel like more than a statistic in your class, and encourage them to become more engaged, try harder, and do better. While it may be difficult to establish relationships with every child, showing that you care about their progress really can help boost their engagement with your class.

5.    Embrace All Cultures

Some students may not feel that they can or should speak up at certain times, or may feel marginalised or overlooked. Make sure to take steps to create an inclusive environment where all students can participate confidently to boost overall engagement and grades.

Creating an engaging environment, especially with teenagers can be tough, but the above tips can help you do so. You will see amazing changes in their levels of achievement when you master engagement.

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Integrate career readiness into their degree

For recent graduates, the current unemployment rate is 7.5%. That’s worrying for students, as they want to be sure they’ll be able to get a job after graduation. Teachers feel that their job isn’t about professional training, but some needs to be implemented in every course.

You can do this by implementing professional training, such as communication and interview practice, through the course. You can also build in internships and job experience. These will give students a good footing to find the role they want after graduation.

Offer student coaching

Many students now are facing real issues as they try to study. They may be from a low-income background or have children to raise as they’re working towards their degree. It’s no wonder, then, that many of them find college challenging.

You can offer one to one coaching, in order to help them with all aspects of student life. A Stanford study showed that such coaching improved retention rates by up to 15%. If you can help your students with non-academic issues as well as the academic ones, they’ll see the value in staying on.

Look at how you communicate with students

The way people communicate is changing all the time, but not all universities and colleges are keeping up with this. It can make an institution look outdated and out of touch if they don’t. Look into the best way of communicating with your students. Would it be better if you could send them text messages, emails, or messages on social media?

The best way of doing this would be to get students themselves involved. Ask what would be easier for them. It could be a good idea to create focus groups and research how they want to communicate with the school.

Help students understand their degree isn’t all about money

With costs rising, it’s easy to forget that students aren’t at college just to ensure they’ll get a job. No matter what they study, they should be able to engage with the whole student experience. It has been seen that most traditional-aged students leave as they don’t feel that connection.

Make sure you’re offering a well-rounded experience that every student can benefit from. If they understand that their degree will help them learn more efficiently and create lasting friendships and contacts, they’ll see the worth in it.

Try putting these points into practice, and make sure you involve your students. They’ll soon see the worth in continuing their studies with you, no matter the cost.

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As a language learner, you may find writing in your foreign language difficult. As you’re thinking more carefully about how you’re writing, it’s easy to get hung up on every mistake you could be making.

These hacks are designed to help you overcome these barriers, and start writing in your foreign language naturally. Give them a try and you’ll see your writing improve.

Read as much as you can

Children learn to write by learning how to read, and the same goes for you. It’s easier for you to get to grips with the written word if you’re reading it first. Try picking up some books in your chosen language and reading as much as you can. The more you read, the more you’ll become familiar with your language as it’s written.

Work on your grammar

It’s easy to get hung up on grammar, as you’re having to think more carefully about it. Make sure you have the basics down, so you can get back to writing. When you first start out, focus on creating shorter, simpler sentences. The better you get, the more complicated you can get in your writing.

Don’t go overboard too quickly

It’s easy to decide to get fancy with your writing. After all, you want to impress by writing in a foreign language. However, you can’t run before you can walk. Focus on writing shorter, easier pieces first. When you feel you’ve mastered them, take a step to slightly more difficult pieces. Keep making these steps up gradually, and you’ll get the hang of writing.

Keep a journal

One of the best ways to practice writing is to keep a journal. These are great as you can write as much as you like, and the writing is private. No worries about anyone seeing any possible mistakes! Make a habit of writing in your journal every day, and you’ll get lots of practice in.

Have a friend check your work

Are you friends with a native speaker of your chosen language? If you are, you could ask them to check your writing. They’ll be able to find any errors that you missed as you were writing, and explain where you went wrong. This input can be really valuable when you’re looking to improve.

Don’t worry too hard about mistakes

Speaking or errors, don’t beat yourself up if you make them. You’re not going to be perfect right off the bat, as it’s impossible. Like everything, writing will come with practice. If you do make mistakes, the best thing to do is see them as learning opportunities.

Be patient

Everything will come in time. Don’t worry too much if you feel you’re not improving fast enough. Every time you sit down and write, you’re making a little more progress. Be patient with yourself, and the skills will come.

These tips should help you get writing in no time. Give them a try, and you’ll soon feel confident about writing in a different language.

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